Ping for your cat C-chick.
Posted on 11/28/2001 11:05:54 AM PST by NativeNewYorker
VISTA ---- A 47-year-old Vista man whose assistance dog was attacked last year by a cat that served as the Escondido library's mascot filed a $1.5 million lawsuit Tuesday against the city of Escondido.
Richard Ramon "Rik" Espinosa, a former North County Times staff writer, alleges the city violated state civil rights laws, including laws designed specifically to protect the rights of the disabled, by denying him full access to the library with his assistance dog.
"The issue isn't that the cat attacked my dog," Espinosa said Tuesday. "It's about the ability of somebody with a disability to freely access that library unfettered. It is totally analogous to stairs to somebody with a wheelchair, especially since the cat was known to attack other animals."
Assistant City Attorney Mark Waggoner declined Tuesday to comment on the lawsuit, but said the library's policy was to allow any assistance animal into the library. Library staff did not prevent any assistance dogs from entering, Waggoner said.
"The problem was a cat with its own feline whims," Waggoner said.
According to the lawsuit, Espinosa suffers from numerous disabilities, including decreased lung function, permanent back disability, chronic pain syndrome, borderline personality disorder, major depressive disorder and panic disorder.
Espinosa's certified assistance dog, Kimba, a 55-pound female Labrador mix, has been "individually and specially trained to help Espinosa with his disabilities," according to the lawsuit.
The lawsuit alleges that the library's cat clawed Espinosa's dog without provocation when Espinosa went to the library as a news reporter Nov. 16, 2000, to interview library computer users. Espinosa retreated, pulling the dog out the door by the leash, and suffered a panic attack outside, the lawsuit alleges.
Espinosa alleges in the lawsuit that a library supervisor refused to call for assistance, and a male library patron berated him for bringing a dog into the library. The attack visibly scarred Espinosa's dog, the lawsuit alleges.
Memories of the incident cause recurring "terror and fear" for Espinosa, exacerbating his depression, the lawsuit alleges.
The lawsuit also equates a sign on the library's door asking patrons not to bring animals except licensed guide dogs for the blind into the building with signs in the south before the federal Civil Rights Act that prevented black people from entering or using various facilities.
Espinosa said the library has removed the wording regarding the admission of animals from its door since the incident involving his dog.
Waggoner said the change in the wording on the library's doors was not a result of Espinosa's actions but was meant to bring the library "more in line" with current requirements of the federal Americans with Disabilities Act.
"The whole city has become better acquainted with them (ADA requirements)," Waggoner said, referring to the aftermath of a different lawsuit that also involved the use of an assistance dog.
In that case, a quadriplegic whose Shih Tzu-poodle mix served as an assistance dog was forced to leave a performance at the California Center for the Arts, Escondido, because she would not leave her dog in her car. A federal judge ruled in August that arts center officials were ignorant of the Americans with Disabilities Act's requirements and violated the woman's rights. The judge awarded the woman $13,000 in damages.
... as well as chronic stupidity.
Ping for your cat C-chick.
We had a German Shorthaired Pointer for about 17 years. She never attacked any cats or other dogs until they attacked her on our property!
She weighed 90 pounds. If a cat attacked her, it was over for the cat in a few seconds. The carcass was thrown into our trash container. She was a real dog, not a pussy dog!
Ahhhhh... That explains it a LOT better. It's good to have Freepers who can fill us in on those little, nagging details that the writer of the original story somehow failed to include.
Thanks mucho from all of us.
Prerequisites for a reporter.
What is "borderline personality disorder?" Borderline what? I've heard of neurotic panic attacks and clinical depression, but on to what is his personality bordering?
To me, he sounds like one of these people who try to live off of filing civil lawsuits and working the public health system. What is a depression dog? If it's not for his mental ailments, then how does his dog help him breathe? Does it pick stuff up for him, so he doesn't have to bend over?
I hope the judge is inclined to impose sanctions for the filing of a frivolous lawsuit.
Coming from "Crusty_Pant_Suit", that's quite an honor! :)
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